
Round two report
Round 2: Friday, May 12, 2006 |
Veselin Topalov |
0-1 |
Vishy Anand |
Gata Kamsky |
1-0 |
Etienne Bacrot |
Peter Svidler |
1-0 |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
All games so far in
PGN
Standings

Round 2 Wrap-up: A wild round with all three games decisive.
That makes four decisive games after two rounds. Last year it took five rounds
to hit that number. The much anticipated heavyweight brawl between the world's
top two players did not disappoint. That is, if you're an Anand fan. Topalov
may be rated #1 and have the FIDE title belt, but it didn't stop him from being
demolished by Anand in a brilliant effort on the black side of the Ruy Lopez.
A quiet opening and equal middlegame exploded into flames and Topalov was quickly
toasted and bagged.
With the win Anand moved to 2/2, both wins coming with the black pieces. He
is pursued by Peter Svidler and Gata Kamsky, who both won today to move to
1.5/2. Svidler kept Ponomariov on the run. Kamsky played a new idea in the
Spanish with 13.Rb1 against Bacrot and backed up his novelty with strong play
that netted a pawn. The rook and pawn endgame they reached "should" be drawn,
but it turned into an adventure. Several times it looked like a simple draw,
but Bacrot avoided the simple and Kamsky kept up the pressure. It came all
the way down to rook versus knight with no pawns! This is tricky but usually
drawn at the master level but both players were terribly short on time (no
time increment in Sofia) and reaching the seventh hour of play, it was far
from tablebase perfect. It was drawn, then lost, then drawn, then finally Kamsky
put the hammer down after the Frenchman's final mistake.
The Brooklynite Kamsky runs into the Anand buzzsaw in tomorrow's third round.
These two have a long history, the latest chapter in which was written at Corus
in January when the badly out of practice Kamsky stunned frontrunner Anand.
Round
two: extensively annotated games by GM Mihail Marin
Picture gallery
 |
The following cartoons are by Chavdar Nikolov. They
can be seen in the Shades of Red restaurant in Grand Hotel Sofia.
The author is one of the most prominent Bulgarian caricaturists.
His drawings have been published in many Bulgarian newspapers and magazines.
He is the winner of the Grand Prix for caricature of the Union of Bulgarian
Artists for 2004. Since 2005 he is the political caricaturist of Novinar
daily newspaper. |

Viswanathan Anand is a fakir from his motherland India

Frenchman Etienne Bacrot is handling a Gallic rooster

Gata Kamsky is a Tatar warrior with a US flag

Ruslan Ponomariov is a supporter of the Ukrainian “Orange revolution”

Peter Svidler is the ultimate cricket fan

Veselin Topalov is presented as the Bulgarian ruler Tzar Ivan Alexander

Schedule and results
Round 1: Thursday, May 11, 2006 |
Peter Svidler |
½-½ |
Veselin Topalov |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
½-½ |
Gata Kamsky |
Etienne Bacrot |
0-1 |
Vishy Anand |
|
|
Round 2: Friday, May 12, 2006 |
Veselin Topalov |
0-1 |
Vishy Anand |
Gata Kamsky |
1-0 |
Etienne Bacrot |
Peter Svidler |
1-0 |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
|
Round 3: Saturday, May 13, 2006 |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
Veselin Topalov |
Etienne Bacrot |
|
Peter Svidler |
Vishy Anand |
|
Gata Kamsky |
Games –
Report |
|
Round 4: Sunday, May 14, 2006 |
Etienne Bacrot |
|
Veselin Topalov |
Vishy Anand |
|
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Gata Kamsky |
|
Peter Svidler |
Games –
Report |
|
Round 5: Monday, May 15, 2006 |
Veselin Topalov |
|
Gata Kamsky |
Peter Svidler |
|
Vishy Anand |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
Etienne Bacrot |
Games –
Report |
|
Round 6: Wednesday, May 17, 2006 |
Veselin Topalov |
|
Peter Svidler |
Gata Kamsky |
|
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Vishy Anand |
|
Etienne Bacrot |
Games –
Report |
|
Round 7: Thursday, May 18, 2006 |
Vishy Anand |
|
Veselin Topalov |
Etienne Bacrot |
|
Gata Kamsky |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
Peter Svidler |
Games –
Report |
|
Round 8: Friday, May 19, 2006 |
Veselin Topalov |
|
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Peter Svidler |
|
Etienne Bacrot |
Gata Kamsky |
|
Vishy Anand |
Games –
Report |
|
Round 9: Saturday, May 20, 2006 |
Gata Kamsky |
|
Veselin Topalov |
Vishy Anand |
|
Peter Svidler |
Etienne Bacrot |
|
Ruslan Ponomariov |
Games –
Report |
|
Round 10: Sunday, May 21, 2006 |
Veselin Topalov |
|
Etienne Bacrot |
Ruslan Ponomariov |
|
Vishy Anand |
Peter Svidler |
|
Gata Kamsky |
Games –
Report |
|